Disputation XX: On Prudence

AFTER the Theological virtues the theologians treat of the Cardinal virtues, the first of which is reckoned to be Prudence. For this is set over the whole OEconomy of the moral virtues, and directs them, either by discerning, as Counselor, or by defining, as Commander, to their acts: it reviews things past, disposes of things present, and provides for things to come; hence it has as its subjective parts the Memory of things past, the Intelligence of things present, and the providence of things to come; moreover it holds the reins of the passions, and if ever they rise up with a sudden impulse, it restrains them at once and reduces them to concord; sometimes it is worldly, in heaping up riches; human, in pursuing the comforts of the flesh; but Divine, it is enslaved to eternal observances, as the Holy Doctor notes in the places to be noted below; its nature and quality still remain to be investigated.